I picked up 'Whatever it Takes' by Adele Parks the other day. Lots of 5* and gushing praise. Not from me though.

Stylish late thirty-something London woman has to move to Dartmouth when her husband's father retires and husband takes over family law practice. Cue page after page of stereotypical moans about moving to the sticks, and at least they'll save money because there won't be any shops to spend it in. (Has she ever been to Dartmouth, I wonder?) Friend is desperate for a child and leans on main character for support. M-in-L is going gently dotty while f-in-l doesn't know what to do.

Naturally she finds plenty of places to spend vast amounts of money, she doesn't have a job, and doesn't do a lot about making friends. One painful dinner party is ruined because she relies on the m-in-l to make the pudding - m-in-l gets in a muddle and it's horrible.

The passages from the m-in-l's POV are terrific - moving, frightening, despairing and bewildered.The ones from the friend's POV are also good, single-minded despair and desperation.

The main character - much lauded in the reviews - is passive-aggressive, cold and spoilt! I loathed her and ended up skipping her POV chapters and just reading the other two. And the resolution is a damp squib.

I'm clearly in the minority as the vast majority of reviews painted her in glowing colours, and the poor friend, maddened by grief and longing, as a psychopath. Not recommended.

Nul points, then? Thanks for the warning - I've not that long since finally finished a novel (Giles Waterfield's The Long Afternoon) where I wanted to shake one of the main characters and found the rest rather irritating, and I'd just as soon avoid another likely to produce the same result, at least for a while.

No spoilers, as I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but just to remind other Jodi Taylor fans that it's out...

_________________to be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. e.e.cummingshttp://stitchwords.blogspot.co.uk

It was only £3.99, which for a new title I didn't think was too bad...

...and of course I've read it now

_________________to be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. e.e.cummingshttp://stitchwords.blogspot.co.uk

I finally got around to reading The First Violin by Jessie Fothergill. I downloaded it ages ago when it was mentioned on here and only just got around to reading it.

I really enjoyed it, even if at the start I was mostly just startled by all the names which are more familiar to me as EBD characters. If I remember rightly Grizel was reading this in one of the Tirol books and EBD must have been a fan too. There are main characters by the names of Eugen Corvoiser (sp?) and Karl Linders to name but a few!

It was written in the 1870's and it is free on Amazon/ Gutenberg. There is lots of music, and lovely scenes of life in Germany and some romance and I whizzed through it in a couple of days.

Beware though for those who are not a fan of young Robin for there is an Engelkind in this novel too.

Edited because I can't get a handle on predictive on my new phone.

_________________She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain - Louisa May Alcott

Thanks Mary. It's a lovely book isn't it? However, I'm afraid I can't take the credit because I downloaded it ages ago thanks to someone on here mentioning it. It was so long ago though that I have no idea who to thank now that I finally got around to reading it.

_________________She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain - Louisa May Alcott

I've just finished 'The War-Workers' by E M Delafield, published 1917 (free from Gutenberg). It's excellent! The protagonist, Miss Charmian Vivian, is a complete pain in the proverbial - managing, martyred, charming but self-deluded and manipulative - imagine Emma without Mr Knightley and given a wartime organisation to run. She thrives on the adoration of her female workers who live in the nearby hostel and infuriates her extremely nice mother. Worth reading anyway and fun because in many ways it's a variation of boarding school without school.

I'm still reading WW1 books, some school stories and some home fires, and have The 'Setons' by O Douglas to start next. Any recommendations gladly received!